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Lafayette, the Friend of Washington. 



AN ADDRESS 



DELIVERED IN 



MEMORIAL HALL, 

FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22, 1884, 

BY 

MARSHALL S. SNOW, 

IN COMMEMOKATION OF 



THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

BIRTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE THIRTY-FIRST 

BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. 



ST. LOUIS: 
NIXON-JONES PRINTING CO. 






A 



" Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. 

" Such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men renowned for their 
power, giving counsel by their understanding, and declaring prophecies. 

" Leaders of the people by their counsels, and by their knowledge 
of learning meet for the people, wise and eloquent in their instructions : 

"All these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of 
their times. 

•'There be of them that have left a name behind them, that their 
praises might be reported. 

" But these were merciful men, whose righteousness hath not been for- 
gotten. 

" Their seed shall remain forever, and their glory shall not be blotted 
out. 

"Their bodies ^re buried in peace; but their name liveth forever- 
more. 

" The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will show 
forth their praise." 

Ecclesiasticus — Chapter xliv. 

As we study the history of the great struggle which we 
call the American Revolution, among all the names which 
won for themselves in that conflict the regard and honor of 
more than one Continent, two stand out far more boldly and 
clearly than any others. I need not say that these are the 
names of Washington and Lafayette. From our childhood 
the one is almost as familiar to us as the other. To whatever 
just criticism Lafayette exposed himself during the trying 
times of the French Revolution, however, we may regard 
his participation in the political affairs of France after 
Napoleon, however much we may be influenced by the 
sneers of Carlyle, who regarded the famous Frenchman as a 
prig, of his character and his conduct in this country there 
can be but one opinion. But, after all, the most of us do 

(3) 



4 LAB^AYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

not bei^in to understand, simply for want of investigation, 
the close relations which existed between the gallant Mar- 
quis and the commander-in-chief of the American army. I 
am sure, then, that it will not be considered out of place 
upon this day, when we commemorate the one hundred and 
fifty-second anniversary of the birth of George Washington, 
and the thirty-first birthday of Washington University, to 
say something of the value of Lafayette to our country and 
its leader in those days of trial, to speak of the friendship 
existing between two noble souls, and to show to the young 
who may be within the sound of my voice an example of 
rare devotion to duty, of generous response to every noble 
impulse. 

In the summer of 17 76, in the city of Metz, then a French 
town, a number of French officers were dining at the house 
of the commandant. The Duke of Gloucester, brother of 
the King of England, was the guest of the evening. As 
the Duke had just received despatches from England their 
contents became the topic of conversation about the table. 
News from Eno-land then meant news from the English colo- 
nies in America. The Duke gave to the interested group 
about the table the story, as it was known to him, of the 
declaration of independence of the refractory colonies ; of 
the sturdy resistance with which all the efforts of the English 
armies to crush this rebellion had been met ; of the deter- 
mination in England to take yet stronger and surer meas- 
ures against the so-called United States. 

Among the guests was a youth of nineteen years, a rela- 
tive of the host. He was impetuous, ardent, a lover of 
liberty, full of romantic and chivalrous thoughts. The 
particulars of this story of struggle were new to him, and 
no one listened as eagerly as he, or asked as many questions 
that he might thoroughly inform himself as to all the de- 
tails. From his boyhood he had been a lover of freedom, 
and the idea of a people fighting for that blessing, and fight- 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 9 

ing, too, with the traditional enemy of France, strongly 
influenced his imagination. Even from the story of the 
Duke of Gloucester he satisfied himself that the cause was 
just and noble, and before he had risen from the table he had 
formed the plan of going to that young nation, so bravely 
struggling for independence, and doing all that his wealth, 
his influence, his personal service could do to help their 
holy cause. "When I first learned the subject of this 
quarrel," he wrote years afterwards, " my heart espoused 
warml}^ the cause of liberty, and I thought of nothing but 
of adding also the aid of my banner." He went to Paris 
at once and made inquiries. To two young friends, the 
Count Segur and Viscount DeNoailles, he made the propo- 
sition that they should join in an expedition in aid of this 
enterprise which he had so much at heart. They, too, 
were eager and enthusiastic, but dependent as they were 
upon their families, they could not go against the wishes of 
their parents. Our young hero, the Marquis de Lafayette, 
was more fortunate. His property was in his own hands, 
and his income was nearly two hundred thousand livres. 
Not discouraged by the difiiculty of securing associates 
among his friends, he went to Count Broglie, a man of 
rank and influence at the court. The Count could not give 
him the least encouragement. He promised to keep his 
secret, but said to him : — "I have seen your uncle die in 
the wars of Italy ; I witnessed your father's death at the 
battle of Minden ; and I will not be accessary to the ruin 
of the only remaining branch of the family." 

The ministry of France were then divided on the subject . 
of American affairs. The position of neutrality was the 
preference of M. Turgot. " Let us leave the msurgents," 
said he, " at full liberty to make their purchases in our 
ports and to provide themselves by the way of trade with 
the munitio'ns, and even the money, of which they have 
need. A refusal to sell to them would be a departure from 
neutrality. But it would be a departure, likewise, to fur- 



6 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

nish them with secret aid in money, and this step, which it 
would be difficult to conceal, would excite just complaints 
on the part of the English." The question of what was to 
be the position of France in this struggle against the En- 
glish arms had just been put directly to the King and his 
ministers by Silas Deane, the American ambassador, or 
commissioner, who with Benjamin Franklin had been sent 
to France to see what could be done towards securinof aid. 
The instructions of the United States Congress had been to 
*' correspond with friends in England, Ireland, and other 
parts of the world," and Deane's representations putting 
in the strongest terras the determination of the rebels to 
to earn their independence, had much to do with the final 
decision of the ministry to do just what Turgot advised not 
to do; — to send supplies of money, secretly, at once. 
Beaumarchais, the versatile author of Le Mariage^ de 
Figaro, a restless and passionate partisan of the American 
cause, was made the agent of the French government. 
January 10th, 177(5, a million francs were sent to him for 
American use, and in two months the same sum was entrusted 
to him in the name of the King of Spain. Beaumarchais' in- 
structions were " to found a great commercial house and to 
draw into it the money of private individuals ; the first out- 
lay being now provided, we shall have no further hand in it, 
the affair would compromise the government too much in 
the eyes of the English." So through a house of the style 
of Rodrigo Hortcdez and Co. the first installment of more 
than three millions was forwarded to the Americans. But 
all this, invaluable as was the aid to the Americans, was 
done in secret. It was the aim of Deane and Frankhn, 
both of whoifi were at Paris, to secure the open and undis- 
guised adherence of the government of France to the cause 
of the rebels. They knew that a treaty of alliance was 
worth more than money and men. Such a treaty, however, 
would be entirely contrary to the well-known sentiments and 
monarchical principles of Louis XVI. His chief minister, 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 7 

Turgot, was moderate and prudent. M. De Vergen- 
nes, the minister for foreign affairs, was anxious to pre- 
serve an apparent neutrality. Josepli II., of Austria, 
Emperor of Germany, brother-in-law of the King of France* 
had just been in Paris. He, too, was importuned to declare 
in favor of the American, insui^gents, as they were called. 
" It is my trade to be a royalist ; " was the reply of his im- 
perial majesty. At the bottom of his heart Louis XVI., of 
France, was of the same mind, but with that indecision so 
characteristic of his whole life, and which was to cost him 
his head a few years later, he hesitated and waited. Many 
gentlemen asked his permission to serve in the American 
army, but to none was the permission given. Some went 
by stealth, and were never heard of in France again. The 
policy of the government was so plainly declared in favor 
of inaction that no hope of any alliance seemed left the 
commissioners. 

Such was the situation when Lafayette, disappointed in 
his hopes of government encouragement, unable, indeed, to 
obtain permission to. leave the country alone and sail to 
America, had an interview with Commissioner Deane. This 
interview, even, was hard to manage without suspicion, so 
surrounded was Deane by spies of the British Ambassador, 
and so fearful was Lafayette of giving offence to his own 
government. But by means of this interview and by the 
subsequent intervention of friends it was agreed that the 
Marquis de Lafayette should join the American service and 
receive from Congress the rank of Major-General. A ves- 
sel was to be sent secretly, that it might not be intercepted 
by the French Government, with arms and other supplies 
for the American army, and in this he was to sail. Against 
the military appointment Lafayette in vain protested. He 
declared that all he wanted was to serve as a volunteer under 
Washington ; he yielded only after the urgent solicitation of 
the few friends who had been consulted, and of Silas Deane, 
the commissioner. Preparations were rapidly making for 



8 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

departure, when most discouraging news came from the 
United States; — the news of the evacuation of New York, 
the loss of Fort Washington, the retreat across New Jersey ; 
news of nothing but disaster. Less than three thousand 
Americans remained in arms ; and these were closely pur- 
sued by General Howe. The friends of America in France 
were in despair. Ail thought of fitting out a ship and send- 
ing munitions of war had to be abandoned. The friends of 
the young Marquis urged him strongly to give up the 
scheme. But to this enthusiastic French youth of only 
nineteen years such discouraging prospects, instead of 
seeming reason for being disheartened, only added to the 
ardor with which he pursued his aim. Mr. Deane himself 
had thought it only right to tell him how hopeless was the 
accomplishment of his design. To him Lafayette went and 
said: — " Until now, sir, you have only seen my ardor in 
your cause, and that may not prove at present wholly useless. 
I shall purchase a ship to carry out your officers ; we must 
feel confidence in the future, and it is especially in the 
hour of danger that I wish to share your fortune." In 
these noble words we have a perfect illustration of the 
spirit in which the Marquis de Lafayette and other French- 
men, less able, but equally honorable, entered upon this 
important business. Thus wiiile General Washington, re- 
duced to a body of fighting men numbering less than 3,000, 
was still hopeful of the common cause, three thousand miles 
across the ocean the same sentiments were animating; the 
heart of a youth destined soon to be the intimate friend, the 
trusted adviser, the sharer in all the vicissitudes of the Re- 
volution, and to carry back at last to his own land those 
principles of liberty and equality which were the founda- 
tions of our struggle. To understand fully the meaning of 
such a course on the part of the Marquis de Lafayette we 
must recall his position in his own country, which made his 
prospects of a life of ease and enjoyment so certain. En- 
rolled at fifteen in the mousquetaires of the King, he was one 



LAFAYETTE, THE FKIEXD OF AVASHINGTOX. 9 

of a company of young gentlemen whose families had held 
titles of nobility for at least four generations, each of whom 
had the rank of an officer in the French army. Young and 
independent, the master of a large fortune, at the age of 
sixteen he had married a lovely girl, who became a noble 
woman, the daughter of the wealthy Duke D'Ayen. To no 
one was the opportunity of a brilliant career at the court 
more widely open. Louis XVI., a youth of about the age , 
of Lafayette, virtuous, popular and powerful, was on the 
throne so long disgraced by his grandfather's licentiousness 
and inefficiency. The golden age seemed to have returned. 
By the side of the King was the young Queen, Marie An- 
toinette, beautiful and accomplished, her life as yet darkened 
by no shadow of coming calamities. Around her had 
assembled all that was splendid and noble and lovely in 
France. Daughter of an Empress, sister of an Emperor, 
wife of a King, the child of pomp and ostentatious display, 
pleasure, flattery and festivals were the delight of the Aus- 
trian Princess. Within this charmed circle was Lafayette. 
He did not flatter, but by some strange caprice the youno- 
Queen justly distinguished him by her favorable notice. 
Thus he could have acquired uncontrolled ascendancy at 
court. But then began to flourish that germ of patriotic 
virtue by whose finest fruits his riper years were enriched. 
Then, even, may we see combined in him that magnanimity 
beyond his age and profession, that philosophy and that 
valor which have always adorned the name of Lafayette. 
Turning from the enervating and distasteful dissipations of 
a splendid but frivolous court, his ardent spirit aspired to 
the noblest undertakings. He was willing to leave a youno- 
wife whom he passionately loved, a family that cherished 
him fondly, a brilliant court, shining with all the attractions 
and all the luxuries of life, and to seek in a strange and dis- 
tant land a thousand privations, fatigues, dangers, and even 
death, not from love of adventure, not from restlessness of 
mind, not from instability or frivolity of soul, but because 



10 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEXD OF WASHINGTON. 

his heart was eager with the love of glory won in the cause 
of liberty, and moved with ardor to the execution of 
generous designs. AVe can understand, then, his impa- 
tience at the delays and obstructions which he met at every 
turn at the beginning of his enterprise. At last after many 
vexatious delays Lafayette was able to steal away from 
France in his own ship, and escaping dangers of the sea 
and of English cruisers to land upon the coast of Georgia. 
To his voung and high-minded wife he wrote most interest- 
ing letters, telling of his voyage and of his impressions of 
this far-away country. Young as she was, devotedly at- 
tached to her husband, and fearing for him many unknown 
dangers, after the first natural feeling of astonishment and 
apprehension, she gave him all the encouragement of her 
full approval and her undying affection. She was not at 
the port from which he sailed to say farewell, but she wrote 
to him a letter, which, said Lafayette, " was an angelic let- 
ter." He tells us that if she had given him the least hint 
to return to her he " would have repented of his design and 
would have gone back to her." But with stout heart he 
endured the painful separation, and solaced the hours of 
loneliness by writing long and loving letters. " My dearest 
love," he always begins them. They are ever bright and 
cheery when all around him is full of gloom and despondency. 
On the 19th of June he writes from Charleston: — "I will 
now tell you about the country and its inhabitants. They 
are as agreeable as my enthusiasm had painted them. Sim- 
plicity of manners, kindness, love of country and liberty, 
and a delightful equality everywhere prevail. The wealthiest 
man and the poorest man are on a level ; and* although 
there some large fortunes, I challenge any one to discover 
the slio;htest difference between the manners of these two 
classes towards each other. * * * j ^m now in the 
city where everything is very much after the English 
fashion, except that there is more simplicity, equality, cor- 
diality, and courtesy here than in England. * * * The 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 11 

American women are very pretty, simple in their manners, 
and exhibit a neatness which is everywhere even more 
studiously cultivated than in England. * * * As to 
my own reception, it has been most agreeable in every 
quarter; and to have come with me secures the most flat- 
tering welcome. I have just passed five hours at a grand 
dinner, given in honor of me, by an individual of this city. 
We drank healths and tried to talk English. I beo;in to 
speak it a little. * * * Considering the pleasant life I 
lead in this country, my sympathy with the people, which 
makes me feel as much at ease in their society as if I had 
known them for twenty years, the similarity of their mode 
of thinking and my own, and my love of liberty and glory, 
one might suppose that I am very happy. But j^ou are not 
with me ; my friends are not with me ; and there is no 
happiness for me away from you and them. * * * 
Embrace tenderly our children. The father of these poor 
children is a rover, but a good and honest man at heart, a 
good father, who loves his family dearly, and a good hus- 
band who loves his wife with all his heart. * * * Xhe 
night is far advanced and the heat is dreadful. I am de- 
voured by insects : so you see the best countries have their 
disadvantages . Adieu . ' ' 

Soon he began his journey to Philadelphia, a ride of 
nearly 900 miles on horseback, through the two Carolinas, 
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. On this journey he 
studied the language and customs of the inhabitants; he 
noticed many products of the soil that were new to him ; he 
saw vast forests and great rivers which combined to give 
the country through which he passed an appearance of 
youth and majesty. 

After his skillful manoeuvres at Trenton and Princeton, 
Washington had gone into camp at Middlebrook. The 
English, whose first hopes had been so disappointed, deter- 
mined to make the next campaign a decisive one. Pro- 
clamations and savages already heralded the reproach of 



12 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

Burgoyne and his army of 10,000. Saint Clair abandoned 
Ticonderoga to save the only corps around which the militia 
could rally. Congress then sent Gates with his regulars to 
take the place of these militia, and did all that could be 
done to support him. The great English army of 18,000 
men sailed from New York, and the two Howes were unit- 
ing their forces for a secret enterprise; Rhode Island was 
occupied by the enemy. General Clinton had remained at 
New York and was preparing for an expedition. Learning 
of all these movements, Washington, leaving Putnam on 
the north, crossed the Delaware and encamped with 11,000 
men, the most of whom were fresh recruits, within reach of 
Philadelphia. It w^as just at this time that Lafayette 
arrived in America. The time was one of great importance 
to the common cause, but a peculiarly unfortunate one for 
the presentation of the claims of foreigners to rank and 
command. Many of the Frenchmen who had entered the 
army had disgusted by their pretentious conduct those whom 
they should have tried to conciliate. The boldness of some 
of these adventurers, the not unnatural jealousy of the army, 
strong national prejudices, made it hard for the proper 
distinction to be made between honest zeal and private 
ambition, or talents and worthlessness. A band of French- 
men, relying upon the promises made by Mr. Deane, 
besieged the Congress until the rule of not listening to any 
stranger had to be adopted. Lafayette was received coldly, 
and was told that there was but little hope that his request 
to be assigned to duty could be granted. At length he sent 
to Congress this communication: "After the sacrifices I 
have made, I have a right to exact two favors; one is, to 
serve at my own expense, the other is, to serve at first as a 
volunteer." This was a style of petition to which Congress 
was little accustomed. A more careful inquiry was made 
into his credentials, and on the 31st of July, 1777, the fol- 
lowing resolution was adopted: " Seeing that the Marquis 
de Lafayette, on account of his great zeal in the cause of 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 13 

liberty in which the United States are engaged, has quitted 
his family and his country, and has come to offer his ser- 
vices to the United States, without demanding either pay or 
private indemnity, and that he desires to expose his life in 
our cause, resolved, that his services be accepted, and that 
on account of his zeal, illustrious family and connections, he 
shall have the rank and commission of major-general in the 
army of the United States." 

Washington and Lafayette first met at a dinner given by 
a member of Congress. Lafayette tells us in his memoirs 
that not for a moment did he hesitate as to which of the 
distinguished men present was the commander under whom 
he wished to serve ; his majestic figure and deportment left 
no room for doubt, and his noble affability of manner added 
to the impression made by his first appearance. We have 
good reason to think that Washington did not like France ; 
that he did not share the hopes which some of his fellow- 
countrymen based upon the aid of that country. He thought 
but little of the crowd of volunteers who came to enroll 
themselves in the American army and be loaded with favors 
by the Congress. " No bond but interest attaches these 
men to America." He would say, " and as for France, she 
only lets us get our munitions from her because of the 
benefit her own commerce derives from it." Washino-ton 
was prudent, reserved, and proud, and looked for the salva- 
tion of America to America herself. He had not foreseen, 
nor, perhaps, could a temperament like his understand, the 
enthusiasm, the generous and unreflecting ardor which so 
easily possesses the Frenchman, and which was just then 
turned to the United States. The very first of these men 
to win the affection and esteem of General Washinston was 
the Marquis de Lafayette. As they were about separating 
on the day of their first meeting, Washington, who seems 
to have been at once struck with the manliness of Lafay- 
ette, took him aside, spoke most kindly to him, compli- 
mented him upon the spirit he had shown and the sacrifices 



14 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

he had made, and begged him to consider himself as one of 
Washington's own family. The young Marquis must have 
made a remarkable impression upon the cautious general to 
receive at their first meeting such marks of friendship. 

Made happy by his success with the Congress, proud of 
the favor of Washington, Lafayette entered at once upon 
his duty as assistant of the commander-in-chief. Urged 
by Washington to take that rank in the army which Con- 
gress had granted him, he replied that " he was not as yet 
capable of discharging the duties of such a post ; that he 
must begin by being instructed himself, and by learning to 
obey before he took upon himself to command; that he 
would, with the permission of the commander-in-chief, act 
as a volunteer : and when he should have given proofs by 
his services that he merited a commission, he would be 
ready to receive that honor; that he wished to conduct 
himself, in every respect, as an American citizen, and was 
only desirous to follow the example of General Washington 
in every situation, whether in war or in peace." As the 
weeks went by, he showed himself courageous, devoted, 
more able and more judicious than his youth and character 
had led them to expect. The friendship that was at once 
established between Lafayette and Washington was on both 
sides tender and devoted. Washino-ton soon came to love 
him as a son. The conditions of the contest were better 
known by the commander-in-chief now than they had been 
six months before. He saw that it was indeed a desperate 
one ; he knew it must be a long one ; he knew better than any 
one else the weaknesses as well as the strength of the means 
at his disposal ; he had learned at last to desire and hope for 
the aid and alliance of France. In the meantime Lafayette 
was writing to friends in France urging open alliance with the 
United States, and open hostilities against England as the true 
policy of the French Government. While lying upon a bed 
of pain after his wound at the battle of Brandywine in 
September, 1777, cared for by the Moravian brothers at 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 15 

Bethlehem, he wrote to the old Count Maurepas to uro-e 
immediate action. The plan suggested by Lafayette was 
not adopted by the cautious minister, but he always after- 
wards expressed a great liking for the young Marquis. ' ' He 
will end one day," said the count, " by unfurnishing the 
palace of Versailles to serve the American cause ; for when 
he has taken anything into his head it is impossible to resist 
him." 

Then came in a few days the surrender of Burgoyne and 
his forces at Saratoo-a. 

Until the news of that victory reached France she had not 
been led to conceive any very sanguine hopes of the ulti- 
mate success of the American arms. She now thought it 
expedient to espouse and assist the cause of the new nation. 
On the eighth of February, therefore, was presented to the 
world the remarkable spectacle of a monarchy with 
scarcely any constitutional limitation to'its power signino- a 
treaty of alliance, amity and commerce with a self-made 
republic, in rebellion against a monarchical neighbor of 
France. Favorable accounts of the progress of Ameri- 
can affairs in the letters of Lafayette to his friends at court 
had exerted an obvious influence on the action of the min- 
isters, and contributed in no small degree towards brino-ing 
to a happy conclusion the negotiations which had been 
pending for fourteen months. 

He was one of the flrst to receive information of the 
treaty, and gave himself the pleasure of bearing the intelli- 
gence in person to the commander-in-chief. The news at 
once spread through the camp. The most lively demon- 
strations of joy followed. The officers and soldiers crowded 
around Lafayette to try to express to him the affectionate 
regard in which they held him. By order of Washington 
the brigades were assembled, and public thanksgivings were 
offered to heaven for this great favor. The joyful discharo-e 
of cannon resounded throughout the camp, and at a given 
signal, the whole army cried as with a single voice: " Long 



16 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

live the King of France ! " In every one of the thirteen 
States was soon heard the same voice of praise and thanks- 
giving to God. The military success of the army of Gates 
had been followed at once by the diplomatic victory of 
Deane and Franklin. The army could endure privation 
and hardship with fortitude ; the people were ready to make 
new exertions and to supply the soldiers with the needed 
supplies. The high hopes which the alliance with France 
had raised were, as we know, doomed to partial disappoint- 
ment, but the immediate effect alone ujDon soldiers and 
people was of incalculable benefit to the cause. 

"Assure the Encylish Government of the King's pacific 
intentions," M. de Vergennes wrote to the French am- 
bassador in England, Geo. III.'s answer was the recall 
of his ambassador. "Anticipate your enemies," said 
Franklin to the ministers of Louis XVI. "Act towards 
them as they did to you in 1755 ; let your ships put to sea 
before any declaration of war; it will be time to speak 
when a French squadron bars the passage of General Howe, 
who has ventured to ascend the Delaware." The character 
of King Louis was a compound of straightforwardness and 
timidity. These qualities were equally opposed to this bold 
plan of the astute American ; he hesitated long ; and when 
Count D'Estaing at last went out of Toulon harbor to sail 
for America with his squadron, it was too late, for the 
English were on their guard. No formal declaration of 
war was made, but on the 17th of June, the third anniver- 
sary of the battle of Bunker Hill, the first shot was fired 
by England in the English channel. 

The French minister had for some time been trying to 
draw into the war against England the Bourbon King of 
Spain. But so essentially monarchical, so faithful to ancient 
traditions was the Spanish Government, so little sympathy 
had Charles III. with the rising Republic, so fearful was he 
that the contagion of liberty would spread to the Spanish 
colonies, so great would be the expense of such a war, that 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 17 

it was only after long hesitation that Spanish hatred of 
England was allowed to prevail over the dictates of pru- 
dence. France added to other arguments the promise to 
help Spain recover Gibraltar and Minorca, and the King of 
Spain at last agreed to take part in the war, without, how- 
ever, recognizing the independence of the United States, or 
making an alliance with them. Spain meant to fight against 
England; not for the new republic. England now had 
reason to regard her situation as serious. The channel was 
plowed by the keels of the enemy ; thousands of men were 
mustering in Normandy to descend upon the southern coast 
of England. Paul Jones was ravaging the coasts of Scot- 
land. Sweden, Russia and Holland, alarmed at the disregard 
shown by the English admiralty of the rights of neutrals, 
threatened to maintain these rights with arms. Ireland was 
ready for revolt. Scotland and England were distracted 
by religious quarrels. The Cabinet of Lord North had lost 
its hold upon Parliament and people. The mob ruled Lon- 
don whenever any news came to stir its passions. The end 
of the struggle between England and her colonies seemed to 
many sanguine French observers as clearly foreshadowed. 
But to the Americans, in spite of the success in the north, 
the situation had never seemed so critical as at the very 
moment when so many dangers were threatening England. 
This was indeed the darkest hour before the day that was to 
dawn. The paper money, based upon no certain security, 
was both counterfeited by the enemy and discredited by the 
friends of the Revolution. The people who had rebelled 
against paying taxes to England, saw themselves called 
upon by a power which they were hardly more inclined to obey 
to pay even heavier taxes now; but still the Government had 
no power to enforce their collection. By refusing the 
payment of taxes, by depreciating the paper currency, by 
feeding the enemy, selfish citizens crippled the Government 
and made themselves rich. True patriots alone endured 
privations and misery. While a numerous English garrison 



is LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

lived sumptuously at New York, a few hundreds of men, 
ill-clothed and poorly fed, wandered upon the shores of the 
Hudson. A freshly recruited army of 18,000 men just 
from England, with an abundance of supplies of all kinds, 
was at Philadelphia ; the army of Washington, wintering 
in its wooden huts and ragged tents at Valley Forge, was 
reduced to 5,000 men, and was in danger every day of utter 
annihilation. The soldiers were in want of everything ; of 
coats, of hats, of shirts, of shoes. Their feet and legs froze 
until they turned black and amputation had to follow. 
Neither provisions nor means of transporting them could be 
had. Officers as well as soldiers were reduced to two, and 
often one, ration a day. The sight of such misery made it 
difficult to levy recruits. Desertion was easy, although not 
so frequent as one would suppose. The triumph of the 
north and the tranquillity of the south lulled to sleep two 
thirds of the continent. The strip between the two British 
armies was the scene of suifering and loyal devotion of 
which the rest of the country had then but little knowledge. 
To conceal the unfortunate condition of thino;s from the 
enemy it must also be kept from the nation ; for by awaken- 
ing one, information would be given to the other. Had 
the English generals in New York and Philadelphia known 
what, perhaps, they ought to have known about the weak- 
ness of the little band encamped in the snow at Valley 
Forge, blows would have been struck which would have 
ruined the American cause before democratic tardiness 
could have come to its support. Congress was not fully 
informed as to the real state of things, and some of the 
generals, even, were deceived. 

It is impossible for us to form any proper conception of 
the burden which Washington carried during this trying 
winter. In the midst of this accumulation of trials the 
young Marquis de Lafayette seems to have been his only 
confidant. This confidence sprang from the warm affection 
in which he held the young Frenchman, and was fully justi- 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 19 

fied by the spirit in which it was met. Lafayette adoptedi 
the American dress, food and customs Reared in the lap! 
of luxury, he sudenly changed his whole manner of living. ' 
He seemed to wish to be more simple, more frugal, more 
austere than the Americans themselves. He cheerfully en- 
dured privations and fatigue. How comforting, how cheer- 
ing was this sympathetic affection, this co-operation so free 
from jealousy, this activity for the common cause, so entirely 
without thought of self, we can learn from many passages in 
the letters of Washington. 

I will not speak now of the military events immediately 
following that seemingly endless winter ; of the arrival of 
Count D'Estaing and his fleet and the miserable failure of 
the Rhode Island expedition, a result due almost entirely to 
the lack of French co-operation — all familiar events in 
the history of our revolution. It was the opinion of Lafay- 
ette often expressed to Washington that unless France 
should send vessels of war and troops in sufficient numbers 
and put them under the immediate command of the com- 
mander-in-chief, the benefits of the alliance must necessarily 
be partial and insignificant. Count D'Estaing had given the 
secret orders of his king as a reason for his unwillingness 
to do his part in the Rhode Island affair. Every French 
officer might in the same way evade the duty lying plainly 
before him, if jealously or any other evil suggestion 
prompted such action. Impressed with the importance of 
a better understanding between the French and American 
Governments upon this subject, and anxious after the be- 
ginning of war between France and England to be for a 
time in his own country, Lafayette left the United States in 
January, 1779. He had left France a rebel and a fugitive ; — 
he returned there triumphant and the hero of the hour. 
In his memoirs he writes : — "I was interrogated, compli- 
mented and exiled, — but to the good city of Paris. * * * 
On my arrival I had the honor of being consulted by all the 
ministers, and, what was far better, embraced by all the 



20 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

ladies. Those embraces, however, lasted but one day ; but 
I retained for a greater length of time the confidence of the 
Cabinet, and T enjoyed both favor at the Court of Versailles 
and popularity at Paris. I was the theme of conversation 
in every circle, even after the Queen's kind exertions had 
obtained for me the regiment of the King's dragoons. 
Times are widely changed ; but I have retained all that I 
most valued ; — popular favor and the affection of those I 
love." His favor at court Lafayette employed in winning 
sympathy and aid for the American cause which he 
had so much at heart. It was upon General Washington 
that the confidence of the French Government and the hopes 
of the French Nation depended. It was to him, therefore, 
that Lafayette succeeded in despatching pecuniary aid, and 
it was under his control that the fleet and troops of Count 
de Rochambeau, which were soon sent to the United States, 
and which made the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown 
possible, were placed by the explicit orders of the King of 
France. The superiority of Washington was at once 
acknowledged by the French ofiicers of this auxiliary force. 
By the gift which he had received from God he was always 
and every where chief of the men placed within his range 
and under his influence. While in France Lafayette lost 
no opportunity of extolling the character and ability of his 
beloved friend and chief. In the protracted audiences 
granted him by the Queen, whose mind was exquisitely sus- 
ceptible to generous and exalted sentiments, and upon whom 
the chivalry and devotion of the young Marquis had pro- 
duced a great impression, W^ashington was often the sub- 
ject of their conversation. Lafayette when speaking of 
him could hardly command himself, and his ardor and elo- 
quence made his enthusiastic admiration of the American 
General contagious. Said the Queen one day to Frank- 
lin: — " Do you know. Doctor, that Lafayette has really 
made me in love with your General Washington ? What a man 
he must be, and what a friend he possesses in the Marquis." 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 21 

The house of the American minister was besieg-ed from 
morning to night by thousands who begged his influence 
with the French Government that they might leave France 
to fight under Washington. The daily scenes at Paris and 
Versailles could be understood only by an acquaintance 
with the impetuous disposition of the youth of that mercurial 
people. Men would often travel for hundreds of miles by 
post to be among the first to present themselves at court 
and win permission to serve in the American war. No one 
was received wherever he went with more enthusiasm than 
was General Lafayette, the leader of the movement against 
England and in behalf of the United States. 

But it was soon apparent to the mind of Lafayette that 
he could not serve his King better than by serving America. 

On the 26th of April, 1780, he arrived in Boston before 
the Americans or the English had the least knowledge of the 
auxiliary reinforcement which he had secured and which was 
on its way. He was received with a perfect ovation. Can- 
non boomed ; bells rang ; fireworks were displayed ; enter- 
tainments were given in his honor ; and all this before he 
told them of his success with the French Government. 

We can well understand the joy with which the return of 
his young friend was welcomed by Washington. When the 
despatch announcing the event reached him, his eyes were 
filled with tears of joy. Those who have studied the tem- 
perament of Washington will see in this the surest proof of 
a truly paternal love. When Lafayette went to see him 
and the first pleasure of the meeting was over, when he had 
heard the story of the difficulties surrounding them, it was 
then that he announced to the commander-in-chief what he 
had done and the aid that would soon arrive. 

We must now pass without remark over the important 
operations of 1780-81. The story of the success of the 
combined armies of the Americans and French at York- 
town is better suited to another time than this. But to this 
great and important event Lafayette largely contributed. 



22 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

In negotiating the articles of capitulation, the English Gen- 
eral, full of admiration of the valor and bearino- of the 
Marquis, asked as a special favor that he be permitted to 
treat with him alone, and to surrender his sword into his 
hands ; but this offer the modesty of Lafayette would have 
obliged him to decline, even if there were not other grave 
reasons for refusing such an honor. Met by applause and 
followed by gratitude wherever he went, in December, 1781, 
he sailed again for France to urge the French Government 
to extend further assistance. Again the court and people 
of France vied in showing admiration of the young hero 
who in the twenty-fourth year or his age was the leader of 
the American cause in Europe, and the friend and confidant 
of Washington. In a short time it was clearly under- 
stood in Europe that peace was a question of only a few 
months. Then came the treaty of Versailles in 1783, of 
which Lafayette was the first to send the news to Washing- 
ton and to Congress. 

Once more before the outbreak of the great French Re- 
volution do we see Lafayette and Washington together. 
At the invitation of his former chief the Marquis visited in 
his retirement at Mt. Vernon the father of the new repub- 
lic. How remarkable a scene was this: Washington and 
Lafayette ! two whose names were known and respected the 
civilized world over; brought together in the first instance 
by such strange circumstances ; engaged in events of such 
serious importance to the whole world ; favored with such 
glorious results ; moved by the tenderest paternal regard 
on the one hand, and on the other by filial love; equally 
stirred by an affection which a difference in age of twenty- 
five years, a difference in race and temperament which could 
hardly be greater, the distance by which they were origi- 
nally separated from each other, seemed only to strengthen 
and intensify. 

'* No enemies to that great man can be found except 
among the enemies of his own country; " wrote Lafayette 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHENGTON. 23 

in 1778 to Baron Steuben : — " nor is it possible for any 
man of a noble spirit to refrain from loving the excellent 
qualities of his heart. I think I know him as well as any 
person, and such is the idea which I have formed of him; 
his honesty, his frankness, his sensibility, his virtue, to the 
full extent in which this word can be understood, are above 
all praise." 

" My dear Marquis," wrote Washington to Lafayette in 
the same year, " the sentiments of affection and attachment 
which breathe so conspicuously in all your letters to me, 
are at once pleasing and honorable, and afford me abun- 
dant cause to rejoice at the happiness of my acquaintance 
with you. Your love of liberty, the just sense you enter- 
tain of this valuable blessing and your noble and disin- 
terested exertions in the cause of it, added to the innate 
goodness of your heart, conspire to render you dear to me; 
and I think myself happy in being linked to you in the 
bonds of the strictest friendship." 

But I need not multiply illustrations which may be found 
in such numbers in the correspondence of both, to show the 
trust, the confidence never belied, the true and honest affec- 
tion, which during these years of trial made so valuable to 
the leader of the rebels this association with the subject 
of the most absolute government among the monarchies of 
Europe. If France had sent no money, no ships, no sol- 
diers, no munitions of war, — and yet had sent to Washing- 
ton the aid and friendship of the Marquis de Lafayette, the 
boon was one for which Washington would ever h^ve been 
grateful. 

"The American war is a history of hopes deceived," 
said the American chief after the bitter disappointment 
which the inefficiency of the first French contingent brought 
to him; but in Lafayette he could always find a bright, a 
cheerful consoler, whose very youth was a support in such 
days of trouble. The character of Lafayette in this country 
rests on ^ foundation which is only made the firmer by the 



24 LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON. 

strictest scrutiny. In spite of his youth, his courage was 
equalled by his prudence and military knowledge. The 
attributes of youth, ardor, enthusiasm, buoyancy of spirits, 
cheerfulness under the most trying circumstances, were the 
proper counterpart of the gravity, the self-poise, the self- 
restraint, the persistency of him who was " first in war, 
first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

The spirit of Washington contributed largely to the 
development and perfection of the character of Lafayette. 
Washington was his father, his friend, his mentor. In 
more mature years, Lafayette never suffered his venerable 
image to be out of sight. Washington, near or distant, was 
ever the guide, the model of the actions of Lafayette. And 
when old age had come, after years spent in the tumultuous 
chaos of revolution, after long years of weary imprisonment 
and happy years of liberty and popularity, his thoughts 
still turned to that land of his youthfur labors for whose 
freedom he had fought and shed his blood; and that he 
might shed tears of affection at the tomb of Washington, 
Lafayette once more crossed the ocean and lived over again 
those early days, the hero of a continent. " It was," 
writes Mr. Quincy, "as if one of the dead heroes of the 
past, to Avhom the indebtedness of mankind is always 
acknowledged, were to be reanimated to receive the grati- 
tude of a living world. Never was the benefactor of a peo- 
ple awarded a homage so universal, so spontaneous, so 
heartfelt, so intelligent." 

Moved by a noble and generous impulse, the people of 
the French republic, — a republic erected upon the ruins of 
kingdoms and empires, younger by almost a century than 
that for which Washington and Lafayette struggled, have 
desired to place in a commanding position in the commer- 
cial door-way of the new world, a statue which shall be at 
once a token of present amity and union and a memorial of 
the days when monarchical France was the friend of the 
would-be republican America, When that noble conception 



LAFAYETTE, THE FRIEND OF WASHINGTON . Z.) 

is fully realized, when liberty, torch in hand, shall light the 
way for men of every clime over the threshold of this Ian { 
of freedom, when this work, of art which is the gift of no 
king, or emperor, or rich man, but of all the people of 
France, shall stand firmly upon the foundation laid by the 
gift of no state, no city, no money-king, but of all the peo- 
ple of this republic, — then, under the names of Washing- 
ton and Lafayette might fitly be cut those words of the 
noble Frenchman in which he bade farewell to this country 
in 1784: — 

" May this ureat temple of freedom ever stand as a lesson 
to oppressors, an example to the oppressed, a. sanctuary for 
the rights of mankind; and may these United States attain 
that perfect splendor and prosperity which will illustrate the 
blessings of their government, and for ages to come rejoice 
the departed souls of its founders."' 



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